Can You Say Yes to Your Belovedness?

On Sunday Brenna talked about the three temptations of Jesus to do things, to earn praise, and to prove himself. There’s a reason why the gospel accounts of the temptations include a crucial little story immediately beforehand: at Jesus’s baptism, God speaks these words over Jesus:

You are my son, whom I love. With you I am well-pleased. - Mark 1:11

Think about the difference that makes - to truly know your own belovedness, to truly believe it.

As you come to prayer today, use those simple words from God and these insightful words from Henri Nouwen to guide you into a time of reflection on your own belovedness.

Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, 'Prove that you are a good person.' Another voice says, 'You’d better be ashamed of yourself.' There also is a voice that says, 'Nobody really cares about you,' and one that says, 'Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.' But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, 'You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you.' That’s the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.

That’s what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us 'my Beloved'.”

- Henry Nouwen